Is technosexuality a real thing? Let’s try to find out. Wikipedia defines technosexual as “an individual who either has a strong aesthetic sense and a love of gadgets or has a sexual attraction to machinery, as in the case of robot fetishism”. In the first sense, the word is a portmanteau of techno- and metrosexual, which was first promoted by creative professional Ricky Montalvo to describe “a dandyish narcissist in love with not only himself, but also his urban lifestyle and gadgets; a straight man who is in touch with his feminine side but has fondness for electronics such as cell phones, PDAs, computers, software, and the web.” When used in the second sense, on the contrary, it is a straightforward compound word combining “techno-” and “-sexual”. As per this definition of the term, fictional android Gigolo Joe, played by Jude Law in the 2001 science-fiction film A.I. has become the iconic “technosex symbol”.

While for many people there is a general fear or mistrust of technology, especially new and upcoming technology, for others, technology is interesting and exciting. And, for some other people, technology is a little more than just exciting—in fact, it is sexually exciting. Technosexuality is a sexual orientation accepted by some individuals whose sexual desires are associated with technology. Some technosexuals prefer technology to human sexual relations.

Technosexuality has nothing to do with those individuals who have a high level of interest in the newest, most modern tech, it’s nothing to do with the “need” to own the latest iPhone or the newest PlayStation edition. Technosexuality is a type of paraphilia for technology, where the person is not only attracted by technology, but sexually aroused by it. They even express themselves in a sexual manner through technology.

For many people, their sexuality is already situated in a technologically mediated organization of the social relations of sexuality – be it online porn or sexting. Technosexuality simply refers to the use of technology in order to collect sexual information, express sexual needs, experience sexual pleasure or explore sexual fantasies.

technosexuality office

How does technosexuality work?

Technosexuals can be sexually turned on by social media interactions: receiving “likes” on Facebook or “hearts” on Instagram can give them a sexual satisfaction thanks to the increase of dopamine which is usually associated with online attention. A boost for one’s confidence and – apparently – for someone’s excitment.

Some technosexuals are even attracted by their own technological sex toys, making them totally unable to have secual relations or encounters with a partner unless their technological toys are included in the process. So a “normal” sexual relationship is never enough for them.

Other technosexuals are turned on by online interaction only, rather than face-to-face interactions. They may be sexually aroused by a cam girl online, but wouldn’t react if that same person was physically in the room with them. These people are easilly turned on by sexting, online avatar interactions or forum discussions.

Online sites, such as “Second Life” allow people to create their avatars – with the possibility to choose different genitals and breasts – and to interact with other users also in a sexual way. Special packages allow users to interact sexually, to try different sexual positions, to have relationships in this virtual world.

But there’s more. As the world and technology progress, the idea of forgoing human interaction results into a growing number of technosexual appetites. sex robots are here and will continue to become more technologically advanced. This allows technosexuals to have a fully sexual relationship with a humanoid robot, even permitting a deeper relationship for those who have the ability to hold an emotional connection for the robot.

Apart from a sex robot, some technosexuals don’t require the humanoid form to find their desire sparked. Several studies find that there are people who have sexual fantasies about their voice-activated assistants, such as Siri and Alexa.

Technosexuality it’s a varied world!

As with pansexuality, sapiosexuality, demisexuality, or asexuality – or any type of sexuality really –  how people choose to identify themselves sexually should be removed from shame, question, or stigmatization; the same holds true for technosexuality. Technosexuality is a thing, a real sexual orientation, and there are plenty of people who identify themselves as technosexuals. As the world advances technologically and technological gadgets and toys are progressively more and more integrated into our lives, more and more people are identifying as technosexuals. And the trend is growing. From their point of view, choosing to be technosexual eliminates all the complicated and sometimes messy dynamics of human relationships – even the sexual ones. The negative side to this new sexual orientation is if their sexuality produces some bad consequences in their lives. Human beings are social animals, after all. But if they feel that their sexuality is fully expressed by being technosexual, all the best for them!